Poor old Jon Huntsman. To my eyes, he's the most sensible and intellectually capable candidate to emerge in the GOP field yet. He's moderate, and acknowledges the existence of both science and reality. Case in point: during a recent campaign speech, Hunstman noted that the United States has "a heroin-like addiction to imported oil." And he's got that silvery-gray hair that makes him look all presidential! Of course, all the those things cited above (besides maybe the silvery hair) are precisely why the Tea Party base of the GOP wants nothing to do with him.

But he plans on stepping up as the "green" Republican candidate anyhow ...Politico has more:

"Conservation is conservative," Huntsman said. "I'm not ashamed to be a conservationist. I also believe that science should be driving our discussion on climate change. I came to find that our national and state parks are a powerful weapon for growth, public diplomacy and economic development."

Huntsman, of course, is taking a risk in running as a green Republican presidential candidate. Hoping to make the candidate feel more at ease before his remarks, the Republicans for Environmental Protection set up a slide show of environmentally themed quotes from Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan, Gerald Ford, Barry Goldwater and Margaret Thatcher.

What a radical leftist! To admit that reliance on imported oil is dangerous, that global warming is based on sound science, and that wilderness preserves are a good idea -- Jon Huntsman? More like Jon Marx-man!

But Politico is right -- even merely acknowledging the existence of climate change is a political liability in Tea Party circles. And it seems sad but true that the once-ubiquitous model of the "conservationist conservative" -- you know, commies like Teddy Roosevelt, Richard Nixon, and Ronald Reagan -- has been all but vanquished from the Republican machine. That may be why the nation's millions of conservative hunters and fishers are growing anxious at the current GOP's anti-environmental platforms.

Either way, to prove the case, a bunch of climate skeptics showed up to the speech with a billboard attached to the back of a pickup truck that called the Republicans for Environmental Protection "'Rinos [Republicans In Name Only] for EPA Protection,' and labeled Huntsman 'Utah's Al Gore'", according to Politico.

That'll show them! Real Republicans don't give a crap about the environment!